Boca Raton Police Services Department Performance Evaluations PDF

BOCA RATON POLICE SERVICES DEPARTMENT Departmental Standards Directive 35.100 PERFORMANCE EVALUATIONS Revised: November 3, 2021 II. PURPOSE: The purpose of this departmental standards directive is to provide employees of the Boca Raton Police Services Department with guidelines for performance ev...

BOCA RATON POLICE SERVICES DEPARTMENT Departmental Standards Directive 35.100 PERFORMANCE EVALUATIONS Revised: November 3, 2021 II. PURPOSE: The purpose of this departmental standards directive is to provide employees of the Boca Raton Police Services Department with guidelines for performance evaluations of employees. III. POLICY: It shall be the policy of the Department to maintain and administer a fair and equitable performance evaluation program for all employees. The performance evaluation process should be a continuous on-going process of communication and feedback between the supervisor and his/her employee during any given rating period. IV. DEFINITIONS: Performance Evaluation: The measurement of the employee's on-the-job performance of assigned duties by the employee's supervisor. Bargaining Unit Employees: Employees who are entitled to the benefits of the Agreement between the City of Boca Raton and the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) Lodge 35. Non-Bargaining Unit Employees: Departmental employees who are not members of/or represented by the Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge #35. V. PROCEDURE: A. OBJECTIVES: 12.01 1. The objective of performance evaluations are as follows: a. To standardize the nature of the employee decision-making process. b. To ensure the public that the Department's employees are qualified to carry out his/her assigned duties. c. To provide employees with necessary information to allow them to achieve and exceed satisfactory performance, while eliminating substandard performance. Effective: May 1, 1982 Revised: November 3, 2021 Performance Evaluations Directive No. 35.100 Page 1 of 6 d. To be utilized as a point of reference when considering promotional opportunities or selection to different positions within the Department. e. To be utilized as a training tool to provide the employee with a clear understanding of what skills and abilities he/she must master to effectively perform his/her duties and identify areas of excellence and/or for improvement. 12.01 B. GOALS: 12.03 1. The results of performance evaluations will be used to: a. Foster fair and impartial employee decisions. b. Measure and improve performance. c. Provide a tool for career counseling. d. Facilitate proper decisions regarding probationary employees. e. Provide an objective and fair means for measuring and recognizing individual performance in accordance with prescribed guidelines. f. C. Identify training needs for individual employees. EVALUATION FREQUENCIES: 1. Supervisors shall evaluate employees annually. 2. Supervisors shall evaluate all newly hired probationary employees at three months, six months, nine months, and twelve months before being reviewed and considered for permanent status. 9.03 3. Supervisors shall evaluate all promoted bargaining unit employees at three months, six months, and a year, at which time they will be reviewed for permanent status. 12.01 4. Supervisors shall evaluate all promoted non-bargaining employees at three months, and six months at which time they will be reviewed and considered for permanent status. 9.03, 12.01 5. The probationary period for non-bargaining unit members will be a minimum of 180 days of uninterrupted service after promotion or in the new classification. 9.03 6. D. Guidelines are set forth in Personnel Policy and Procedure Memorandum I-16. EVALUATION SYSTEM AND FORMAT: 1. All employees shall be evaluated using the City’s electronic evaluation system. Effective: May 1, 1982 Revised: November 3, 2021 Performance Evaluations Directive No. 35.100 Page 2 of 6 2. The electronic evaluation form shall include standardized measurement definitions on which the employee will be rated based on the employee’s job description. 12.01 3. An employee shall have access to his/her completed evaluations through the City’s electronic evaluation system. 12.01 E. THE EVALUATION PROCESS: 1. EMPLOYEE EVALUATION: a. An employee’s immediate supervisor shall complete the employee’s evaluation. b. Performance evaluations shall cover a specific period based on the date of rank that shall be noted on the evaluation form. c. Evaluations shall reflect an employee’s overall work performance during an evaluation period, not just the most recent or the most significant events. 12.01 d. The supervisor shall observe and document positive and negative examples of an employee’s performance, if applicable. e. Evaluations will be developed through documented observations of behavior rather than opinions about the person. f. Evaluators will look for trends in behavior that may be indicators of future problems. g. Whenever any single element within the performance appraisal is deemed as unsatisfactory or outstanding, the supervisor must cite specific examples or make specific explanatory comments for the rating in order to substantiate it. 12.01 h. Supervisors shall complete the employee’s performance evaluation no less than thirty days after the employee’s anniversary date. 12.01 i. For bargaining unit members, the evaluation process shall be in accordance with the current Agreement between the City of Boca Raton and the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) Lodge 35. 2. SUPERVISOR-EMPLOYEE REVIEW MEETING: a. Supervisors should use the time designated for the review of past performance to counsel employees on future performance. 12.02 b. The supervisor shall review all unsatisfactory or outstanding comments with the employee. 12.02 Effective: May 1, 1982 Revised: November 3, 2021 Performance Evaluations Directive No. 35.100 Page 3 of 6 c. The review meeting shall include discussion of the following items: 12.02, 12.04 i. Result of the performance evaluation just completed ii. Tasks of the position occupied iii. Level of performance expected iv. Evaluation rating criteria d. Both the supervisor and the employee will confirm on the City’s electronic employee evaluation system that the review meeting was held. 3. FEEDBACK: a. The employee will be given the opportunity to add comments and electronically acknowledge the completed evaluation report. 12.02 b. Electronically acknowledging the evaluation does not mean that the employee agrees, the acknowledgement verifies that the employee affirms that they were given an opportunity to review the evaluation and discuss the results. 12.02 4. CHANGES IN SUPERVISION: a. If there is a change in supervision for a bargaining unit employee, performance evaluations shall be completed as specified in the Agreement between the City of Boca Raton and the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) Lodge 35 regarding changes in supervision. b. If there is a change in supervision for a non-bargaining unit employee, the performance evaluation shall be completed as outlined by City of Boca Raton policies and procedures. c. The current supervisor shall be responsible for reassigning an evaluation to a new supervisor if a change in supervision occurs during the rating period. 5. SPECIALTY ASSIGNMENTS: a. It will be the responsibility of the employee’s immediate supervisor to ensure that all specialty assignment performance measures are incorporated into the evaluation criteria at that time the subordinate is assigned to the specialty unit (e.g., SWAT, CNT, USRT, etc.) F. CONTESTING AN EVALUATION: 12.01 1. An employee is encouraged to discuss concerns about his/her evaluation through his/her chain of command. Effective: May 1, 1982 Revised: November 3, 2021 Performance Evaluations Directive No. 35.100 Page 4 of 6 2. Performance evaluations may only be formally challenged if the overall rating is Requires Improvement, and the evaluation does not cover a period of time during which the employee was on probationary status. 3. Members of the bargaining unit may grieve evaluations utilizing the procedure as set forth in Article 16 of the Agreement between the City of Boca Raton and the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) Lodge 35 or the City of Boca Raton Personnel Rules and Regulations, but not both. 4. Employees who are not members of the collective bargaining unit will be guided by the grievance procedures set forth in the City of Boca Raton Personnel Rules and Regulations. G. UNSATISFACTORY PERFORMANCE: 12.05 1. If an employee’s performance is unsatisfactory, his/her supervisor shall meet with the employee and provide guidance for improvement, which shall be documented as supervisory coaching. If the unsatisfactory performance continues, the supervisor shall submit a written performance improvement plan to any non-probationary employee whose performance is unsatisfactory at least 90 days prior to the end of the rating period. 2. If unsatisfactory performance occurs within the last quarter of the evaluation period, a performance improvement plan will be given as soon as practical. 3. All performance improvement plans shall be retained in the employee’s department file. 4. If a performance improvement plan is warranted, the supervisor should be prepared to substantiate ratings at the unsatisfactory level, to advise the employee of unsatisfactory performance, and to define actions that should be taken to improve his or her performance. 5. If unsatisfactory performance continues, this information should be included in the evaluation report at the end of the period. H. NEWLY HIRED OR PROMOTED EMPLOYEES: 12.04 1. The employee’s supervisor and/or field training officer should review and discuss the performance expectations and the evaluation process with his/her employees within the first week of being newly assigned. 2. The employee’s supervisor and/or field training officer shall identify the knowledge, skills, and abilities the employee must master during the evaluation period and the criteria on which the employee will be evaluated. 3. Supervisors and/or field training officers are encouraged to schedule regular informal meetings with the employee throughout the evaluation period to discuss the employee’s progress, strengths, weaknesses, etc. Effective: May 1, 1982 Revised: November 3, 2021 Performance Evaluations Directive No. 35.100 Page 5 of 6 4. The employee’s supervisor and/or field training officer shall notify the division commander, via the chain of command, in writing, if serious patterns emerge involving behavior, aptitude, or competence. I. SUPERVISOR RESPONSIBILITIES: 1. TRAINING: 12.01 a. All supervisors shall receive training in using performance evaluations within one year of appointment to a supervisory position. Refresher training will be conducted as needed, thereafter. 2. FEEDBACK OR COACHING: 12.01 a. A supervisor’s responsibility is to provide feedback or coaching to the employee that focuses on specifics designed to improve performance. b. Supervisors shall speak with employees regularly to discuss the employee’s performance, goals, ambitions and need for training throughout the evaluation year. c. Supervisors should strive to keep the coaching sessions positive, constructive, and motivational. d. Supervisory coaching that occurs during the evaluation period shall be documented in the performance evaluation. Approved: Michele Miuccio Chief of Police Effective: May 1, 1982 Revised: November 3, 2021 Date: Performance Evaluations Directive No. 35.100 Page 6 of 6